1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to knock-down animal cages, and in particular to light-weight transportable cages. This invention presents a light-weight, strong and durable cage which can be assembled as a permanent cage or which is adapted to be easily disassembled and reassembled. The sides and top of the cage comprise preassembled panels which can easily be configured into one or a plurality of adjacent cage units. This invention is ideal for domestic animals such as cats and dogs, but it may be used for a wide variety of animals, e.g., farm animals such as chickens and other fowl.
Heretofore, portable knock-down cages for such animals conventionally comprise assemblies of panels made from small gauge wire with no rigid framework. The panels are so made in order to keep the assembled cages light-weight and portable. However, such cages are not very stable, that is, they can easily be bent or collapsed because the panels have no rigid frame structure, and the assembled panels are typically held together at their edges by wire clips.
Other conventional transportable cages comprise assemblies of panels which are rigidly framed, but heretofore the rigid framing comprised metal slats and bars. The metal frames increase the strength and rigidity of the cage but are much heavier than the all-wire cages, thus creating an unavoidable trade-off:weight verses strength and stability. For larger animals such as large to medium size dogs, the strength and stability of a metal framed cage is necessary, but the weight of metal framed cages makes them only portable when disassembled i.e. knocked-down, or very strenuously portable when erect.
As described above, this invention overcomes these problems. The panels of this invention are sturdy and rigid, but nevertheless very light-weight. When assembled they form a very strong and stable cage with the panels firmly held together by strong clamps. The panels of this invention are comparable to the conventional metal framed panels but without the penalty of the additional weight. For example, a typical metal framed cage for an 80-pound dog is at least 200 pounds. This invention presents a cage with sufficient strength and stability to contain such an animal but which weighs approximately 50 pounds, or at least 150 pounds lighter. It can therefore be seen that the cages constructed according to this invention are significantly more easily portable, whether knocked-down or erect.
Other advantages and attributes of this invention will be readily discernible upon the reading of the text hereinafter.